Forty Authorized Doctrines

The Authorized Doctrines of Epicurus

Our knowledge of Epicurus’ Principle Doctrines today comes mainly from Diogenes Laertius, who ended his biography of Epicurus with an appendix which he introduced as follows:

Let us … now add the finishing stroke, as one may say, to this whole treatise, and to the life of the philosopher; giving some of his fundamental maxims, and closing the whole work with them, taking that for our end which is the beginning of happiness.

It is not clear whether Diogenes Laertius organized this list himself, or adopted it from an earlier document prepared by Epicurus or by his immediate students. We do know, however, that Epicurus personally endorsed the use of outlines in studying the laws of nature, so it is entirely possible that this list dates to the earliest years of the founding period of Epicureanism.

It is also clear that for hundreds of years the Epicurean community promoted the distribution of copies of this celebrated list. Almost 150 years after the death of Lucretius, the Greek satirist Lucian referenced the list in glowing terms. In his work entitled “Alexander the Oracle-Monger,” Lucian recorded how the list was detested by Epicurus’ enemies, but revered by his followers:

In this connection Alexander once made himself supremely ridiculous. Coming across Epicurus’ Accepted Maxims, the most admirable of his books, as you know, with its terse presentment of his wise conclusions, he brought it into the middle of the market-place, there burned it on a fig-wood fire for the sins of its author, and cast its ashes into the sea. He issued an oracle on the occasion: “The dotard’s maxims to the flames be given.” The fellow had no conception of the blessings conferred by that book upon its readers, of the peace, tranquility, and independence of mind it produces, of the protection it gives against terrors, phantoms, and marvels, vain hopes and insubordinate desires, of the judgment and candor that it fosters, or of its true purging of the spirit, not with torches and squills and such rubbish, but with right reason, truth, and frankness.

Lucian characterized the list as “terse” for good reason. As we have it today, the list contains neither introduction nor elaboration, and the doctrines are stated in the form of fundamental observations which often require significant reflection in order to grasp the full implication. Also, the order of organization does not flow as might be expected with one proposition building on the next. Instead, the list seems to be ordered in order of practical significance, in other words, in order of the frequency with which the principle would be needed in the everyday life of an Epicurean.

The famous first four doctrines, for example, cover the greatest concerns that most men have about the nature of life, and it is not until we reach doctrine twenty-two that the list addresses the method of thinking by which these and the other doctrines are established to be true. As a result, readers who approach the list should first obtain a basic grasp of the Epicurean world-view by reviewing basic documents such as the Letter to Menoceus and the material excerpted here as part of the Introduction to Epicurus’ Canon of Truth, which includes the Letter to Herodotus and the Letter to Pythocles.

Note: In the presentation below, the Doctrines are listed in paraphrased form in the order given by Diogenes Laertius. To assist in further study, each doctrine is also hyperlinked to a page where supporting citations from other Epicurean literature are collected.